“Ah, Luo Xiao, are you really okay?”
In class, the teacher’s lecture was putting everyone to sleep.
The students in the back had already let their minds fly to the clouds, wandering through the wonderful landscapes of their imagination, unable to tear themselves away.
Bai Jia looked at his daydreaming deskmate and nudged him with his elbow, worried.
Luo Xiao snapped back to reality.
“Ah, sorry, I was spacing out.”
“A good student like you spacing out is rare. What, still thinking about the disappearance case?”
Bai Jia patted Luo Xiao’s shoulder with concern.
“Maybe you should ask the homeroom teacher for leave. After all, going through something like that, your mind is bound to be a little off.”
“I’m really fine.”
Luo Xiao smiled helplessly.
“I was just thinking about some things.”
Luo Xiao looked out the window at the fluttering green willow branches, and his thoughts returned to that dark green silhouette.
Beautiful, gentle, powerful.
Like an untaintable flower, standing in that dim and damp basement, like a beam of light that poured in, lingering in his heart, unforgettable.
The magical girl [Na Gou].
Even if he didn’t understand works related to magical girls, he could tell that this was definitely not a good title.
But it really matched her abilities, didn’t it?
Na Gou, Na Gou, nurturing filth and harboring dirt.
Filth, twisted, blasphemous—
As if the baseness and waste of life had gathered and merged together, bursting forth from the dark underground, devouring the flesh of living beings.
But no matter what, the girl had indeed saved them.
Even if many people were afraid of her.
“I wonder if I’ll ever meet her again.”
Luo Xiao murmured absentmindedly.
“What, thinking about that magical girl?”
Seeing him like that, Bai Jia showed a mischievous grin, then leaned close to Luo Xiao’s ear and said with a pitying expression:
“Damn, even you can’t resist the damsel-in-distress-turned-heroine trope. It seems my good buddy is about to leave me, because he’s fallen for a new love, his heart already belonging to a powerful magical girl…”
“You little…”
Just as Luo Xiao was about to retort, a gentle and quiet voice sounded by their desk.
“I don’t care what you two want to talk about, but if you don’t hand in the math homework the teacher assigned this morning, I won’t let you copy mine.”
They turned to look.
Xia Lan, the class monitor, was standing there holding a stack of exercise books, staring at them with a seemingly “kind” smile.
His smile was as usual, but at that moment, it sent Bai Jia and Luo Xiao’s hearts plummeting into an ice cellar.
They hadn’t finished writing it yet.
“Collecting it so soon?”
Bai Jia’s eyes were filled with despair, as if he still wanted to struggle.
“Great and merciful Class Monitor Xia, can you give me ten minutes? No, three minutes! I’ll finish it right away.”
“No ~ way ~.”
Xia Lan wagged his finger.
“The teacher said to hand it in during this break. And three minutes is too short; you’re just going to write random stuff, aren’t you?”
“Noooo!!!”
While Bai Jia was wailing, Xia Lan turned to Luo Xiao and said in a milder tone, “The math teacher said you can hand it in a bit later, since you just got back not long ago.”
“I see, that’s great.”
Luo Xiao immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
“You should also rest and not push yourself.”
Xia Lan said calmly.
“You can take leave; the teachers will understand.”
“It’s fine. I can’t afford to fall behind in class.”
Actually, the main reason Luo Xiao didn’t want to take leave was that once he lay in bed with nothing to do, his mind would involuntarily think of that elegant and beautiful figure in the basement, smiling at him.
So, to calm his mind, he chose to come to school.
After all, this was the first time in his life he had seen a living magical girl—
Not an urban legend, not a 2D character, but a real magical girl standing right in front of him.
This was enough to be an unforgettable memory for anyone for a lifetime.
Unfortunately, when the police arrived later and questioned the rescued victims, they seemed to think it was a collective hallucination caused by the prolonged stress of captivity.
After all, things like a magical girl [Na Gou] sounded too blasphemous, as if some extermination order might fall on their heads at any moment.
Convincing a professionally trained police officer to believe such nonsense was as hard as making them believe someone had just met a mermaid.
“Oh, right, Luo Xiao.”
Xia Lan suddenly seemed to remember something.
He pulled out a small green notebook from under the pile of exercise books and handed it to Luo Xiao.
“This is the notes on the important points the teacher covered while you were away. I wrote them down and organized them for you. Make sure to take a look.”
Luo Xiao took the notebook.
The handwriting was elegant and fresh, like a lark dancing in a vast forest, carving graceful arcs, every stroke landing nimbly on the branches.
“Thank you, Class Monitor.”
“You’re welcome.”
Luo Xiao looked up and saw Xia Lan’s gentle smile.
His androgynous features, that smile, especially those eyes—undoubtedly…
For a moment, Luo Xiao saw a flash of that magical girl’s figure on Xia Lan.
When he came back to himself, Xia Lan was still Xia Lan, as if that instant had just been his imagination.
“…Hey, Xia Lan.”
Somehow, Luo Xiao spoke up.
“Do you believe that magical girls exist in this world?”
Xia Lan’s fingers paused for a moment, but only for an instant.
“Is this some new prank game?”
Xia Lan tilted his head, still smiling.
“No, it’s just,” Luo Xiao didn’t know what to say for a moment, “I believe magical girls exist in this world.”
“Mm.”
“Don’t you think I’m talking nonsense?”
“Do you think you’re talking nonsense?”
“No.”
“Then why should I think you’re talking nonsense?”
Xia Lan gave a sly wink and smiled.
‘Don’t answer a question with a question!’
Luo Xiao scratched his head, thinking to himself.
His mind had been muddled just now; what was he even saying to Xia Lan?
Was his sixth sense suspecting Xia Lan of being a magical girl?
Even though he was prettier than any girl—
His arrival on the first day of school had completely wiped out the list of school beauties—
He was a guy.
How could a guy be a magical girl?
‘It seems [Na Gou]’s influence on me is too strong. I’m even hallucinating her shadow onto Class Monitor Xia Lan. Luo Xiao, Luo Xiao, you can’t keep degenerating like this. From now on, you need to focus on your studies.’
“Alright, alright, dear magical girl enthusiast. I’m going to deliver the homework now. If you don’t understand anything in the notes, feel free to come find me anytime.”
Xia Lan gave a slight nod and then strolled out of the classroom.
Watching Xia Lan’s departing figure, Luo Xiao again thought of that magical girl.
Was it an illusion?
He didn’t know, but suddenly Luo Xiao felt very sleepy.
His eyelids kept drooping, and his body felt as if something was draining his energy.
‘I’ll just… sleep for a bit.’
With that thought, Luo Xiao’s vision went dark.
—
In the math teacher’s office in the administrative building, Xia Lan had to leave the teaching building, cross the sports field, to get there.
Under the sun’s squeeze, Lian Mountain High School was a bit stuffy.
The dry air rushed into his nostrils with the wind, brushing the hair by his ears, bringing the whispers of summer from afar.
Classes for physical education had already arrived on the field one after another.
Students were laughing and jostling, full of excitement, and the air was brimming with the vigor of youth.
[That Luo Xiao earlier was quite perceptive. He somewhat recognized you, and it seems he’s developed a crush on you as a magical girl.]
A mature and gentle voice sounded in Xia Lan’s mind, like the mother of life, rippling with the warmth of a spring breeze.
“Mm, it’s probably a coincidence, Sister Liuhua.”
Xia Lan responded calmly in his mind.
[If one day he really identifies you, what will you do, Xia Lan?]
“Use the power of [Na Gou] to brainwash him and make him forget all of this, like before.”
[Again?]
Xia Lan slowed his pace, as if reminiscing.
“After all, the magical girl version of me and him are ultimately from different worlds. He wouldn’t accept my true form, and I shouldn’t drag him into this cruel struggle. For my sake and for his, we are just passersby in each other’s lives. Right now, he might only have feelings for the magical girl [Na Gou] due to the suspension bridge effect. But that’s just passion, temporary. He deserves a real girl, not the monster I become when I transform.”
[Xia Lan, you child… How did you become my successor…]
“Life is unpredictable. Back then, my father had no choice but to pass your power on to me.”
Liuhua sighed but didn’t say anything else.
“Speaking of which, Sister Liuhua, have there been any news about ‘Big Brother’ lately? Father entrusted the key to [Slaanesh] within him; he is the ally we need most. But it’s been over ten years, and we’ve only found out that he might be living in this city.”
[Not yet, but there’s no need to rush. The clues from the Leonard Company and the Church of Light won’t be much more than ours.]
“I hope so… By the way, about yesterday’s Church of Light, I felt something was off. They looked like a bunch of bait, or scapegoats.”
[Mm, your thought is not unreasonable. Yesterday’s ritual was indeed a bit crude, which is why you found their trail so quickly. But if that’s the case, what could the Church of Light’s real purpose be?]
Suddenly, Liuhua’s voice became serious.
[What if the important thing isn’t the ritual, but something else? For example, the people themselves who were present as sacrifices.]
Xia Lan’s eyes narrowed, as if realizing something.
He turned to look back and saw that the teaching building he had just left was now enveloped in a transparent barrier of light.